Bruce Arthur: It's Time to Roll the Dice ... Arenas?

[Dr. James Naismith]

Some of you might have already read this from Bruce the other day, but do you think he's panicking by even suggesting in acquiring Gilbert? Too high of a risk or at this point do you think Bruce might have a good point and we should seriously consider Arenas?

Don't panic, but ... OK, maybe go ahead and panic, Raptors fans. Let's draw the line at looting, or gunplay. For the moment, anyway. We are a civilized, sane and rational people, up here.

Which is what makes it funny that the decline of the Toronto Raptors has gotten to the point where I'm making up trade scenarios in my spare time, and there's no limit to the crazy. It's all pretty much a waste of time, of course, since teams can't start making trades again for a few months, and by then everything could change.

But hey, it's the time for fever dreams, which helps to explain the imaginary trades. Like, say, offering Jose Calderon and the expiring contracts of Marcus Banks and Reggie Evans to Washington for - wait for it - Gilbert Arenas.

Yes, the message here is let me do the panicking for you.

To be clear: All this exists only in this writer's imagination. General manager Bryan Colangelo couldn't even talk about if I asked him, but that road has yet to be seriously considered, since it's fraught with what-ifs. Also, insanity.

Among the what-ifs - after whether Arenas will be imprisoned, whether his contract will be voided, whether he is able to cross the border after his sentencing on a little gun felony that you may have heard about - is whether or not Chris Bosh stays. Which, given the events of the past three weeks, doesn't look quite as appetizing a concept for the young all-star as it did back when people were wondering whether the Raptors could catch Boston in the standings.

And so clearly, something needs to happen. Either the Raptors need to rediscover their guts and cohesion and finish the season strong - hey, if they play Boston in the first round there's a solid chance that Kevin Garnett's knee could fall off, allowing Toronto to extend the series to at least six games - or they need to make a change. Or maybe both.

Because if Bosh leaves, what you have is long-term contracts that belong to Calderon (three more years, US$30-million), Andrea Bargnani (five years, US$50-million), and Hedo Turkoglu (four years, US$44-million, endless jokes about pizza, paparazzi, and "ball"). Appetizing? Not even when you throw in the jokes.

And so, this largely weightless discussion comes back to Gilbert. Assuming he doesn't go to jail for a year or more when he's sentenced on March 26, he'll be owed about US$80-million over the next four years. Washington has already given away Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood for salary relief, and with a new collective bargaining agreement threatening to chop salaries, Arenas has the worst contract in the NBA.

But he has talent, too. Sure, he's surgically repaired and will have played 47 NBA games in three years and may just be a Grade-A loon, but in his last full month of play Arenas averaged an inefficient but notable 25.2 points, 7.6 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.4 steals in 15 games. The guy might be hell on earth to play with at times, but he can play.

Source - Click here

[LBF]

i like arenas and think he's a good player but, i mean we'd have to give up alot just to get arenas.

i'd rather have t-mac at 17 mill. a year for 4 years than that nasty thing.

however, if they take turkoglu than i'm listening. it'd be easier for them to buy out turk's contract then gil's.

[Apollo]

If the Raptors could land Arenas for the proposed trade in the article of Calderon, Banks and Evans then I say sign me up. For all the crap Arenas has been through in the past couple years I am hoping that he is finally understanding that he is not in fact bullet proof. If he was playing for the NBA's only Canadian team the man would have to check the guns in at the boarder. To get a sidearm in Canada is extremely difficult and based on his past year track record he would be flat out denied. Guns wouldn't be a problem ever. Injury concerns would worry me more BUT, he'll have had two years of recovery from it and he's still very young. I think he's going to bounce back. His contract is worrisome but considering the rumours about the owner planning to slash all contracts with the new CBA it may not be such a great problem as you might think moving forward. Buy low.

[.40 Cal Flakes]

WORST...IDEA...EVER! Especially at $20 mil/season!!! Homerism at it's finest.

You guys think Hedo's contract is bad? Say hello to Agent Zero. Is he a good player and still able to offer something to a team? Probably. But not at said salary-no way, no how. He's always been one of the most over rated players imo.

[Hotshot]

I don't think they will allow him to bring his guns pass the border.

Gilbert Arenas already wrecked one franchise, do we really need him to wreck things here?! Colangelo is already losing his hair over Turkoglu, with Arenas here he will just pull everything out.

[Dave]

Too large a risk. There are too many years left on that contract. If Arenas didn't return to his pre-injury form the Raptors would be ... his contract would stop Toronto from having any chance of building a Contender around Chris Bosh.

It is a bad idea.

[Brain Colangelo]

Dave - would you change your view if the Raps could ship Turk out in the process and find a new home for one of Caleron or Jack and get a Turk-level player in return? The move would be to put a more effective ball dominator on the floor as a PG and add someone at SF who fits the team better. You wouldn't need 3 PGs so Calderon or Jack goes...

[Apollo]

Right now you're going to be able to get Gil for 60 cent on the dollar. No doubt it would be better if they could find Hedo a new home in an Arenas trade. Hedo certainly isn't going to fit well with Arenas. I personally think if Bosh wants out they're not going to get a superstar back for him, only rebuilding pieces. While that's going on, they should also make an effort to try and get Gil here in a give away trade. As I mentioned earlier, his contract might not be a huge issue if the owners get what they want in the CBA negotiations. They want a hard cap and all contracts still on the books slashed. Arenas' deal may go from highly bloated to highly manageable. Right now the Raptors have no one on the team who has accomplished as much as Arenas has. Like him or not, he's led his team further into the playoffs than Bosh has. He's led his team to the playoffs four times. Three of them he was unfortunate enough to draw LeBron James. Beyond all that he has always been touted as one of the hardest workers in the game and I feel that this whole ordeal will bring him back down to earth. He has one chance to make things right. I think he'll do it and the team who lands him for cheap will look very smart in the process.

[Dave]

Dave - would you change your view if the Raps could ship Turk out in the process and find a new home for one of Caleron or Jack and get a Turk-level player in return? The move would be to put a more effective ball dominator on the floor as a PG and add someone at SF who fits the team better. You wouldn't need 3 PGs so Calderon or Jack goes...

4 years and $80 million is too large a risk for my comfort

I was open to the idea of adding Jermaine O'Neal because his contract was only two years and once his contract expired the Raptors were set up beautifully for 2010 free agency. The level of risk was contained. One bad year + one year where he's a trade asset as an expiring contract + an offseason opportunity that would have allowed the Raptors to add another maximum contract player in the most loaded free agency market in recent memory.

If Gilbert Arenas does not regain his form he will tie this club down for three years. There is little to no chance that Chris Bosh stays patient and waits for Arenas to expire. He will demand a trade. The club will then have to enter a full rebuilding process.

The downside of Arenas' health + inability to regain his performance level since returning from injury + contract size ... is simply too large to overcome.

Adding Hedo Turkoglu to the trade helps lower the risk but the risk is still far too high for my comfort.

[Dave]

I don't think the Raptors have to take an all-in risk. Not at this point.

Toronto still has a very good asset in Andrea Bargnani (trade wise) + a very good prospect in DeMar DeRozan + a solid trade asset in Jose Calderon (trade wise).

They have some flexibility for improvement through those assets. They do not need to risk the long term future of the club in an all-or-nothing move at this point.

They also have a fairly young core in Chris Bosh (25), Andrea Bargnani (24), Jose Calderon (28), Jarrett Jack (26), DeMar DeRozan (20) and possibly Amir Johnson (22). The only older core player on their roster is Hedo Turkoglu (30).

The Raptors can be patient. They don't have to force a move.

Edit: The Raptors do not have to try to do this all in one move. They can do this in steps. Time is on their side.

[Apollo]

No doubt there is a lot of stuff on the team that could be traded away but to take the next step they're either going to have to find impact players through the draft or take some calculated risks via trades. The problem is that they can't seem to get ahead.

Just another thought, the Raptors look like they're not going to have a first rounder this off-season.